]]>It’s time for TEACHx 2019—Northwestern’s symposium celebrating teaching, learning and technology. This year the TEACHx theme is student-centered learning. Come learn with your peers as they share their experiences with changing up their teaching. The day bring together instructors, students, learning designers, and technology specialists to make connections and begin collaborations.

]]>http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/05/register-for-teachx-2019/feed/0Why and When to Use PowerPoint in Online Courseshttp://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/03/why-and-when-to-use-powerpoint-in-online-courses/
http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/03/why-and-when-to-use-powerpoint-in-online-courses/#respondMon, 04 Mar 2019 15:00:23 +0000http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/?p=5012The post Why and When to Use PowerPoint in Online Courses appeared first on SPS | Distance Learning.

]]>While PowerPoint is a very effective tool for creating visual aids when used properly (or artistically, or satirically), it can be harmful when misused. Suggestions for appropriate use of PowerPoint have been documented in various blog posts on the Distance Learning website. For the Summer 2019 course development period, extra emphasis is being placed on on using PowerPoint in ways that go beyond its most convenient form: bulleted lists. Structured, bulleted lists may work well for quickly organizing your own thoughts, but there are other (trendier?) ways of doing that without using PowerPoint. PowerPoint can continue to be a useful tool for collaboratively designing visual information that is then displayed in a time-based medium, such as video. PowerPoint integrates well with Canvas’ integrated video platform, Panopto, and has many accessibility features built in, so not all uses of PowerPoint are bad. This guide will describe recommended uses of PowerPoint as well as mistakes to avoid when using PowerPoint. Specific examples will be provided when possible, but creating or finding your own examples is encouraged.

Recommended Uses of PowerPoint

For Collaborative Design in Familiar Software

The Microsoft Office suite is available to all members of Northwestern University at little to no cost. It is also very popular since so many professional settings require its use. It is not surprising to have a PowerPoint presentation be the central artifact in many public speaking situations. This familiarity with PowerPoint makes it a default tool for many people. Use whatever tool meets the most basic needs of a project. If that tool is PowerPoint, use it. However, when you discover that the tool is being misused, or no longer meets the needs of the project, you should change to another tool.

To Outline or Storyboard More Advanced Types of Media

If you decide to use PowerPoint because its basic functions meet your needs, you should first use it to plan your content. Before adding sophisticated and complex types design elements to your media, set up the underlying structure in the quickest and simplest way possible. This may mean using only structured text and simple diagrams to convey the information needed. Later, you can change to another tool or explore the advanced features of PowerPoint to do things like create stylized animations, detailed graphics, mix in multimedia, or use creative formatting elements to enhance or decorate your content.

Mistakes to Avoid When Using PowerPoint

Using PowerPoint to design and create media for asynchronous, online courses is slightly different than using it for a visual aid to a public speaking event. There are some shared principles that I think apply to both types. If your PowerPoint, after multiple drafts using the basic text and shape features of the software, is mostly a series of unending, unstructured text, you should consider switching to another medium. Formatted HTML adds structure (headings, lists, alt-text, and other screen reader-friendly markup) is an appropriate and accessible way to convey large amounts of text or hypertext. If your PowerPoint contains a lot of visual content that lacks context, consider adding descriptive captions. When using traditional diagram tools, consider using alternative chart or visualization tools to depict data, workflows, process, comparisons, matrices, or other commonly diagrammed concepts.

What Can You Use Instead of PowerPoint?

If you determine through working with your learning designer and instructional technologist that PowerPoint isn’t going to meet the needs for your course media, you can explore alternative tools that can be used for conveying graphical, visual information. There are already likely tools used by practitioners of the subject matter in your program. Ask your instructional technologist to make recommendations based on what has been used in other courses, or suggest piloting a new tool that hasn’t been used before. Most often, the content will guide you toward an appropriate format. The process of taking a concept or idea to a finished product will also help you gain better familiarity with your subject matter and make it easier to update in the future and translate into other formats, supporting universal design for learning.

Useful Links for Course Media Development

The following descriptive links may inspire you to approach Course Media Development differently. If you know of other links that would be helpful to creating course media, please add them.

]]>http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/03/why-and-when-to-use-powerpoint-in-online-courses/feed/05 Ways to Group Adult Students for Teamwork Onlinehttp://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/02/7-ways-to-group-adult-students-for-teamwork-online/
http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/02/7-ways-to-group-adult-students-for-teamwork-online/#respondTue, 12 Feb 2019 15:50:38 +0000http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/?p=5006The post 5 Ways to Group Adult Students for Teamwork Online appeared first on SPS | Distance Learning.

In the School of Professional Studies (SPS), group projects are our bread and butter. That means team case studies, small group discussions, peer review, and other collaborative assignments.

One question I’ve heard faculty members frequently ask their peers in course presentations is, “How do you group your students?”

Everyone has a technique for doing it differently, based on any number of factors. How many students are in your class? How many students should be in each group? What if you have students “left over”? Should I group them with teammates they know? Teammates they don’t know? Teammates they choose? Teammates I choose?

Although the strategies are probably infinite, read on for eight ways to group adult students for teamwork online, from the new-and-exciting to the tried-and-true. I’ll define each technique, describe potential contexts for use, and help you figure out how to make it work in Canvas.

1. Generate random groups.

What is it?

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, but there’s no rhyme or reason to why students are in groups together. It’s left to chance!

When should I use it?

Random groups can work well when students are just getting to know each other. It can give them an opportunity to meet peers they might not normally gravitate toward. Likewise, random groups are their own lesson in working with people who are different, and may emulate a work environment in which you cannot choose peers or project stakeholders.

How can I do it in Canvas?

2. Choose the topics and have students opt in.

What is it?

You compose a prompt in which students have a choice of a few different topics, joining other peers who are interested in the topic to complete the assignment. For example, you might have a few different case studies, articles, or videos that form the root of the response.

Then, you develop a sign-up sheet and students can self-select the topic or media they are the most interested in. Just don’t forget to choreograph the numbers carefully–for example, if there are 20 students in your class, you might provide 5 topics and specify that each group should contain 4 students.

How can I do it in Canvas?

You could set up a discussion specifically for topic selection by providing the options in the prompt and asking students to “claim” their topic by commenting. Then announce the groups formally in an announcement.

You can also build a sign-up sheet by creating a page that students can edit. Follow this Canvas guide (How do I create a new page in a course?) to create a new page. Then, in the Options: Can edit this page role selection dialogue, select “Instructors and students” from the dropdown.

3. Group students by skill level.

What is it?

Students come into your class with a variety of backgrounds and different approaches to learning. You may consider grouping students with attention to their skill level for any number of reasons. For example, grouping students at high, medium, and low skill levels may allow you to devote more time to working directly with students at the lower levels. Creating groups by mixing skill levels may allow for more peer learning opportunities.

When should I use it?

In SPS, this could mean:

Creating groups for a video assignment which contain at least one student who is tech-savvy.

Creating groups for a case-study response in which one group contains students who have experience in the field and another which contains students who do not; then, asking the groups to critique each other.

Creating study groups for an exam that mix students who are performing well with students who could use extra support.

How can I do it in Canvas?

This technique is dependent on how much you know about your students, so it may be easier to do later in the term when you have been working with them for 6 or 8 weeks. However, you can also develop activities to help you learn more about your students from the onset.

In addition to helping you meet Quality Matters standards and cultivate a classroom community, a well-crafted introduction discussion can help you learn more about your students prior experiences and skill levels. For example, you might say, “Please share if you have any industry experience,” or “In a scale of 1-5, how would you rate your comfort with learning online? Why?”

4. Create themes and have students opt in.

What is it?

In the Harry Potter series, students are assigned to “houses” based on their personality traits. In her 2014 book Syllabus, Lynda Barry shares the pseudonyms her students used to sign their work all terms; for her class “The Unthinkable Mind,” each student’s nickname was a part of the brain. Students might be called, for example, Amygdala or Hypothalamus or Thalamus.

Sometimes a personal (rather than professional) bond can help students collaborate on group projects. This gamified approach asks: How might you group students by interests?

When should I use it?

In small programs especially, it may be helpful for students to forge social connections that will help them hold each other accountable in group contexts. For example, students meeting early in their degree program may be yearning to align with their peers; later in their degree program, they may have been grouped with their peers many times before. This method allows students to see their peers with new–or fresh–eyes.

Groups that relate to hobbies – The Dancers, The Readers, The Binge-Watchers

Groups that respect time zones – The East Coast, The Midwest, The West Coast

However, it can be tough to regulate group size with this technique. Plan accordingly!

How can I do it in Canvas?

You could set up a discussion specifically for theme selection by providing the themes in the prompt and asking students to identify their chosen theme by commenting. Then announce the groups formally in an announcement. (Does this sound familiar?)

You can also build a sign-up sheet by creating a page that students can edit. Follow this Canvas guide (How do I create a new page in a course?) to create a new page. Then, in the Options: Can edit this page role selection dialogue, select “Instructors and students” from the dropdown. (Does this sound familiar, too?)

5. Ask students to fill team roles.

What is it?

Should one student argue for side A, another student argue for side B, and one student be the “fact-checker”? Should one student lead the team, another create a shared workspace, and another coordinate meeting times? Should one student compose the executive summary, another develop the infographics, and another format the report with headings and page numbers? This strategy asks students to find a job they’re well-suited for and then find a team that needs someone like them.

When should I use it?

This technique can be good for role-playing discussions or long term projects, especially those that emulate workplace stakeholders. Students may feel like they’re setting themselves up for success by choosing a role they feel well-equipped to do.

How can I do it in Canvas?

This might work a little differently in Canvas. I’d suggest creating a few different discussions labeled for different teams (Teams A, B, and C; Groups 1, 2, and 3, etc.) and then asking students to select one, beginning to post immediately in their new role. Once all of the positions have been filled, announce the groups formally in an announcement.

You could create these group discussion placeholders in Canvas in advance, and not need to manually assign students to groups using the tool; you’d simply trust students to return to the discussions labeled with their team name. Or, you could give students private spaces by, you guessed it, manually assigning students to groups. Hmm, I wonder how you might do that? How do I manually assign students to groups?

Conclusion

This is only the tip of the iceberg. This could easily be titled “10 Ways to Group Adult Students fo Teamwork Online” or “50 Ways to Group Adult Students for Teamwork Online.” If you are trying to come up with a creative way to group your students for an assignment, please feel free to reach out to a Learning Designer on our team.

]]>Have you experimented with a new approach in one of your SPS courses in the last year? Would you like to share what you’ve learned with others?

TEACHx, Northwestern’s annual symposium that brings together instructors, students, learning designers, and technology specialists to make connections, begin collaborations, and learn from their peers, is returning to the Norris University Center in Evanston on May 22-23, 2019.

Whether you want to give a poster, an interactive session or be part of a panel—join in on the celebration of teaching and learning.

This year we are excited to announce that TEACHx is expanding to include a half-day pre-conference. Attend workshop sessions during the pre-conference on Wednesday, May 22. Other session types will be presented during the conference on Thursday, May 23.

]]>http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/02/submit-a-proposal-to-teachx-2019/feed/0Building Up to Big Assignments and Complex Tasks: Making the Case for Assignment Scaffoldinghttp://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/01/building-up-to-big-assignments-and-complex-tasks-making-the-case-for-assignment-scaffolding/
http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2019/01/building-up-to-big-assignments-and-complex-tasks-making-the-case-for-assignment-scaffolding/#respondMon, 28 Jan 2019 15:00:55 +0000http://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/?p=5001The post Building Up to Big Assignments and Complex Tasks: Making the Case for Assignment Scaffolding appeared first on SPS | Distance Learning.

Do some topics or skills seem too large to approach in your course? Are your students struggling with time management? Do you want to provide students with thorough, meaningful feedback but find it difficult to keep up with all the grading? Do you want your students to learn more effectively? Assignment scaffolding could be the answer.

What is assignment scaffolding and why is it important?

Simply put, assignment scaffolding helps break down large ideas or tasks into smaller steps that build on each other. Consider the analogy at the root of the term. Scaffolding, like the multi-level, metal structure above, is a temporary support that helps construct a building. At the end of the project, the scaffolding is removed and the building stands on its own.

Imagine trying to create that building without the help of scaffolding. How would workers move between levels of the building? How would it be built beyond a story or two? To zoom out even further, how do workers know what the building looks like? Where are they getting materials from?

Now imagine asking students to complete a 20-page paper that is due the last day of class. You never discuss their thesis with them, read a draft, or review their resources in advance. How will they organize their work? How will they push their critical thinking skills to the next level? Furthermore, how will they decide what to write about? What research will support their argument?

In these cases, showing up empty-handed–to a vacant lot, to a blank page–doesn’t often lead to brilliant work. Both the building and the research paper should be carefully planned, with input provided throughout the process. Otherwise, the building may look nothing like what the architect envisioned or the paper may look nothing like what you intended in the prompt.

Process scaffolding and critical thinking scaffolding

Ryerson University’s Best Practices in Instructional Scaffolding explains Lev Vygotsky’s “zone of proximal development” as the place where what you do know intersects with what you don’t know yet. A scaffolding structure is designed to make the most of this theory, making sure there is room for development after each effort. This document goes on to differentiate between process scaffolding and critical thinking scaffolding.

Process scaffolding separates an assignment into components that build on each other. It asks the question, “How do I break down this large task into smaller, more manageable tasks?” Critical thinking scaffolding develops lower-order critical thinking skills before requiring higher-order critical thinking skills. It asks, “What skills do I need to master before the next part of the task can be completed?” A well-scaffolded course does both, as you’ll see in the examples below.

Scaffolding in a graduate public policy course

One example of scaffolding is from MPPA 409: Effective Writing & Communication, taught by Professor Meghann Pytka. Pytka is a big advocate for the use of scaffolding as a way of ensuring that students put the research writing process under the microscope.

She found that many students reached the capstone course with an inadequate understanding of some of the more nuanced aspects of academic research and writing, so she developed a course that is a deep dive into academic writing. Each week builds toward the creation of a final research paper, moving through:

Brainstorming a topic

Topic Selection

Refining the Topic

Annotated Bibliography

Literature Review

Substantive Outline

Background Section

Analysis and Policy Implementation Section

Introduction/Conclusion/Abstract/Title

Draft

Final version

The course is structured so that each week has a mini-assignment that builds toward the whole. In this way, students question their assumptions about the entire process of“writing a public policy research paper. Mirroring Professor Pytka’s approach, Columbia College provides a handy guide to Scaffolding Research Assignments that breaks the writing process up into six stages: selecting a topic, finding background information (“presearch”), research, source evaluation, drafting, and final drafting.

The course also uses peer review as a way to gain new perspectives on one’s work. This mirrors the best practice of having colleagues give you feedback while writing. Each person has a peer buddy who gives them feedback on three of the mini-assignments.The feedback is highly structured–a peer fills out a worksheet and everyone works from agreed upon ground rules. These peer review assignments are low stakes, but they can provide invaluable help and the experience can build a sense of community in a course.

Scaffolding in an undergraduate organizational behavior course

This example is much smaller in scope, but just as effective. In ORG BEH 311: Conflict Resolution, Professor Patty McNally planned an assignment to help students analyze the concepts of negotiation and mediation. Students were asked to find videos that were examples of either good or bad negotiation or mediation. Students then watched each other’s video choices and answered a set of questions about them. They were asked to draw upon the readings and media within the course.

The next week, students looked over comments left on their own video selection as well as the whole experience of watching and commenting on their peers’ selections and used all of this as fodder for a reflection paper about how the experience 1) deepened their understanding of the concepts and 2) what they learned about “best practices” for negotiation and mediation.

This assignment encourages natural interaction about content that they’ve chosen to add to the course, and we think students feel more of a sense of ownership in this assignment. It also adds variety to the course and makes the class engagement stretch beyond the normal discussion board post. Students have to show that they’ve mastered the content, but a great deal of choice is baked into the assignment. The reflection piece allows students to make their own connections between the readings and the experience of choosing, watching and commenting on the content.

Conclusion

Now that you know a little about the theory of assignment scaffolding and have examined a few case studies, it’s time to think about implementing scaffolding into your course. For example, you might be thinking, “How can I explain scaffolding to my students so that they don’t think of it as busywork?” or “How can I articulate the value of peer review?” The University of Toronto provides a useful Troubleshooting section (page 4) that can help develop a scaffolding strategy that makes the best use of your time–and students’–and the University of Colorado Denver provides an excellent chart that maps active verbs in Bloom’s Taxonomy to a critical thinking scaffolding (page 4).

You might also consider reviewing resources specific to your context. For example, are you asking students to complete a multimodal assignment such as a video recording? Scaffolding a video project may look very different from a research paper; you might have a script instead of a draft, or need to learn technology skills during the research phase. Check out the University of Michigan’s guide to Sequencing and Scaffolding Assignments (see Strategy 3: Sequencing and Scaffolding Multimodal Composition Assignments).